Full colour version of the BP magazine

In the mid-1990s, when told
they were posted to Baku to work on the
‘Contract of the Century’ project, many BP
employees responded, “Thanks, that
sounds great. By the way, where is Baku?”
But if Azerbaijan and its fascinating
capital were not well known internationally
at that time, the huge and unique Azeri-
Chirag-Gunashli (ACG) oil development has
put it on the map. For Azerbaijan, this megaproject
has brought financial independence
and a newfound confidence. For BP, in terms
of project management, ACG is
undoubtedly one of the most demanding
projects ever undertaken.
ACG followed the 1997 Chirag ‘Early Oil’
project, which had demonstrated the
feasibility of production sharing agreements
in the country. The full-field project was
then developed in three phases, starting
with Central Azeri, followed by West and
East Azeri, and finally deepwater Gunashli.
Production began in February 2005.
ACG nearly didn’t happen. As world
oil prices crashed in 1998, there
were many doubts that the $10
billion project would get the go-ahead. But,
as one manager on the project puts it,
5 billion barrels of oil reserves “were never
going to be left in the ground”. ACG was
sanctioned and is now making a huge
difference to Azerbaijan, to BP and to world
oil markets.
ACG has transformed Azerbaijan’s
image on the world stage, along with its
economy, and was the major factor in
trebling gross domestic product over the
project’s course. The fields produce more
than 65% of the country’s oil, and during
2006 and 2007, Azerbaijan was the largest
contributor to non-OPEC supply growth.
It is unique, but not because it pushed
technological boundaries. Although it is the
Caspian’s only subsea development, it does
not lie in the deep waters that make today’s
projects in the Gulf of Mexico, or offshore
Angola, so ambitious. And its reserves are
not even the biggest in the world.
What distinguishes ACG is its scale. The
work scope included the engineering,
Long journey: the ACG complex
produces the oil that feeds the
1,670km (1,093 mile) BTC pipeline.
BLACK
SEA
BTC Pipeline
Ceyhan
Sokhumi
SYRIA
TURKEY
Batumi
RUSSIA
GEORGIA
Erzurum
ARMENIA
IRAQ
Caspian report>
ACG mega-project
fabrication, construction, installation and
commissioning of offshore drilling and
production, gas compression and water
injection facilities and subsea oil and gas
pipelines, and the expansion of what is now
the largest onshore terminal outside the
Middle East. Calling for six huge offshore
platforms, BP’s largest ever saturation dive
programme, and an unusually large
workforce of locals, BP expatriates and
contractors, ACG required extensive
logistical planning to realise each stage.
More than 159 million man-hours were
spent, 80% in Azerbaijan itself, and more
than 150 million kilometres driven without
major incident. At the project’s peak,
catering services were dispensing 20,000
meals a day to workers. Mouth-watering for
the diners, no doubt, but eye-watering for
those cooking.
One massive fundamental challenge
was where to build ACG’s huge offshore
structures. Key elements of those 233,000
tonnes of infrastructure could not be built
in-country. Although Azerbaijan had a long
history of oil production and was the
centre of Soviet oil platform jacket
manufacturing, its construction yards »
TBILISI
AZERBAIJAN
IRAN
CASPIAN
SEA
BAKU
ACG
Sangachal
AREA
ENLARGED
km 150 300
BP MAGAZINE Issue 1 2009 13